Cyanogen reportedly lays off staff as it shifts focus to apps

Cyanogen is often referred to as the most popular custom ROM for Android but the company hasn’t had much success in convincing phone makers to use its version of Android over Google’s version. Now it looks like some major changes are on the horizon.

According to Android Police the company is letting go about 20% of its workforce, most of them are people who work on the open source side at Cyanogen. Systems and QA teams have seen big cuts too, and Cyanogen's offices in Lisbon and India may be closed off altogether. Community support members were allegedly removed, too.

The move is reportedly part of a corporate restructuring and a change of focus for the business. It’s unclear at this point exactly what that means but one source told Android Police that it involves a “pivot to apps”. Whatever that might entail, with most of the team working on the ROM now gone it seems that the custom operating system may be in trouble.

Cyanogen had secured some important deals in the past year, entering into a strategic partnership with Microsoft to have some of their apps and services natively integrated into Cyanogen OS. The company raised $185 million in 4 rounds and its highest-profile products include a phone from India’s Micromax and the original OnePlus One.